Russia - threadbanned users in OP

If we can find 5 billion for asylum seekers surely any country can find this money.

Could be very good news

That's what we need more of. Fingers crossed it's true. Goes to show the appalling state of Russian military defence organisation… how can a power that likes to flaunt itself as being a global leader, be hit time after time behind its own lines, in the same manner using the same tactics, by an adversary that IT has taken the war to? Its hard to imagine the US showing that much incompetence. Goes to show just how vulnerable Ukraine has made Russia… really hope they can keep it up.

Repairs to the facilities being hit, lost revenue as a result of refineries being taken out of action even temporarily, replacement costs of high tech military equipment (aircraft, AA, navy) must be absolutely massive when aggregated. And those are losses that would definitely not have been factored into this war by Putin - whatever about the cost of sanctions to the Russian economy, he clearly did not envisage the ability of Ukraine's own military inflicting such damage outside of the battlefield.

The 6 Russian bombers destroyed this morning in Rostov Region is just the beginning.

Ukrainian Armed Forces now has the capability of drone strikes to 3000km.

Russian oil infrastructure, airfields, Putin's palaces all on the menu.

And interestingly, in these drones they are fully utilizing AI. Which means the drones dont use or depend on GPS which is what is used mainly by the opposition to detect drones. The AI is a mapping AI that recognises the terrain its flying over as it goes toward its target. So for there journey to the target they are totally self sufficient. Apparently this is the reasons russians cannot find them

Absolutely fascinating & equally terrifying for all our futures if this falls into wrong hands:

“Accuracy under jamming is enabled through the use of artificial intelligence. Each aircraft has a terminal computer with satellite and terrain data,” the source close to the drone program explained. “The flights are determined in advance with our allies, and the aircraft follow the flight plan to enable us to strike targets with meters of precision.”

That precision is made possible by the drone’s sensors.

“They have this thing called ‘machine vision,’ which is a form of AI. Basically you take a model and you have it on a chip and you train this model to identify geography and the target it is navigating to,” said Noah Sylvia, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute, a UK-based think tank. “When it is finally deployed, it is able to identify where it is.”

“It does not require any communication (with satellites), it is completely autonomous,” Sylvia added.

Terrifying to be honest. Right now they're being used by the good guys, but given how cheap and easy they seem to be to manufacture (compared to conventional weaponry), how long before the bad guys start exploiting them. In fact I'm surprised given the degradation of their resources, the Russians haven't turned to them more.

"In fact I'm surprised given the degradation of their resources, the Russians haven't turned to them more."

Russia having "dumb" drones using moped engines is one thing .. like the Iran Shaheed drones. But I imagine fully AI controlled autonomous Drones is another level altogether tech wise & would need Western Hi end tech that Russia cannot access due to sanctions .. but Ukraine has full access to.

And yes, terrifying. Ukraine rewriting modern warfare with essential experience of same that counts. With experience even the most advanced militaries ( eg US Army ) dont have. As you said issue is WHEN likes of ISIS and Al Queda etc get there hands on this type of long range tech. I am surprised that has not happened yet. This is why Macron/France are really fearful for the Olympics in Paris this summer

I'd be very surprised if for components like this Russia can't source from China. It's not like the West have a monopoly on tech innovation and production… almost the opposite if anything.

Putin's palaces. With the golden toilets, that would be fantastic.

If we cannot defend his own palaces it would really make him look weak.

From the FT

Russia hitting EU trains etc.

Russian attempts to destabilise European energy infrastructure have been well documented but interference in transport networks has been less discussed.

The EU Agency for Cybersecurity published its first report on threats to transport in March last year. It said there had been “attacks against railway companies with an increasing rate, primarily due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine”. 

It noted major cyber attacks by “pro-Russia hacker groups” on railway companies in Latvia, Lithuania, Romania and Estonia.

The Czech cyber security agency, NUKIB, has warned of rising cyber attacks in recent years. “One of the last year’s prominent trends has been the growing interest of malicious attackers in the energy and transportation sectors,” it said in a report published in July.

České dráhy said it had “seen an increased number of cyber attacks on our digital infrastructure” and was “continuously strengthening” its cyber security.

Prague has become increasingly hawkish on Russian influence campaigns after it approved a law in 2022 that allows the government to take measures against foreign entities suspected of violating human rights or cyber crimes.

I wonder if a lot were pilots.